Andrea McInturff, left, and her mother Dianne Wiechert, work together with Wiechert's father, Don Myers, at Century 21 on Price Road. Don opened his franchise in 1975. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

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Century 21
Don R. Myers

Myers’ real-estate office is located at 51 Price Road in Newark. The office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

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Three generations of the Myers family can be found working under the roof of Century 21 Don R. Myers Real Estate Inc. There’s Andrea McInturff, her mother, Dianne Wiechert, and grandfather, Don Myers, who started it all.

After working with his daughter and granddaughter for the past 9 years, Myers doesn’t have to worry about taking a sick day — he was unavailable this past week for an interview because of being under the weather according to his daughter — because he knows his girls and the rest of the staff will keep things going. None of them had really planned to make the real-estate agency into a family business, but Wiechert isn’t totally surprised it turned into one.

“He’s a family man,” she said. “And I think that’s what makes him so successful because purchasing a home is all about the family.”

Myers first got into the real-estate business after he retired from Kaiser Aluminum because the company wanted to transfer him to another state. His whole family lived in the Newark area and he didn’t want to leave them behind, so he decided to make a career change and stick around.

After working in other real-estate offices for a few years, Myers went to school to become a licensed appraiser and broker. Soon after becoming a broker, Myers decided to open his Century 21 office in 1975, which is when the franchise first became available in Central Ohio.

He opened his office on Hudson Avenue, which has since been moved to its current location on Price Road in Newark. Myers’ wife, Dorothy, went into business with him and worked at the office as an office manager and licensed realtor for many years.

Although many would hesitate to work with their spouse for the complications it can bring, Wiechert said her parents found a way to make it work.

“They had the same focus, which was: The client comes first,” she said. “They were a

good team.”

When Dorothy passed away, she left a big hole to fill in the family and in the business. Myers started asking Wiechert to come and work for him, and although it took some persistence to persuade her to join the team, she finally said yes in 2004 and took over as the office manager.

“Looking back, I wish I would have come on board sooner,” Wiechert said. “I think I could have learned a lot from my mom when she was here, and I really enjoy this business.”

It didn’t take long for Wiechert to turn to her daughter, Andrea McInturff, and ask her whether she was interested in joining the agency. Wiechert started taking on more responsibility as an agent and needed help keeping the office in order.

McInturff decided to take the plunge, starting as the office manager in 2008. She took a brief leave from the agency to return to work in the mortgage-loans business but returned to her grandfather’s office in 2011.

She said she enjoys being able to work and spend so much time with her family. Her son and daughter are frequent visitors to the office, and Wiechert jokes that the kids don’t stand a chance of avoiding the real-estate business because they’ve essentially grown up with it.

The best part about working at Century 21 Don R. Myers Real Estate Inc., though, is that Myers has created an environment where everyone feels like a member of the family. It might be Myers’ name on the door, but he always puts his agents first and gives them all the credit for the agency’s success.

That might be why the many agents who have worked for him throughout the years stick around so long, McInturff said. One agent in particular spent 29 years at the office, not leaving until she decided to retire in 2007.

Wiechert and McInturff have never regretted going to work for their father and grandfather, respectively. If anything, they said, it’s been a blessing to do so.

“For me, I admire him as a broker and a father,” Wiechert said. “He’s been a great role model, always trying to do what is right and proper. I don’t know if you can say that about many businesses.”

More than that, though, Myers serves as an inspiration to everyone who works in the office, McInturff said.

“He just turned 83, and he still loves coming in to work every day. It’s his passion,” she said. “He loves his clients, his agents and his community. He just keeps it going for everybody here.”